Results

Often it is wise to exercise caution when there has been a big rise in share price on the smaller AIM outfits, but that isn’t always the case and sometimes the fortunes of the company genuinely have improved significantly.

The rise in shares of Lionsgold (LION) has got the attention of many, and it certainly looked as though news was leaked prior to an RNS later in the day. Having seen the share price dropping steadily of late, it suddenly surged more than 40% on much higher than normal volume. Initially it looked like just another pump, as this share has been very popular with private investors ever since its share price rose by around 500% in December and is very volatile, but then an RNS dropped informing the market that it was making a new investment, and it ended the day up nearly 90% at 4.55p on the ask.

Often when it comes to AIM companies investors get far too fixated on revenue and orderbooks, and forget that in reality it all comes down to the bottom line and the actual net profit that the company is either already making, or is likely to make.

I last covered AIM-listed Draganfly (DRG) HEREand concluded that it was one for the asbestos suit and a very, very long bargepole. Now, almost 15 months on, its (afterhours, natch) interims caught my eye. Apparently the Board are [sic] pleased to announce them, and so is the Chairman. So they are good, right?

Even large, FTSE-100 shares can go through periods where seemingly every piece of news brings about a decline in the share price, and the company seems to be hit by one negative revelation after another. But as long as there isn’t anything wrong with the underlying business, then often these are just temporary blips and can offer the sort of recovery opportunities, and potential returns, that you don’t see often with outfits of this size.

I have to say I haven’t come across AIM-listed Midatech (MTPH) until now. However, with interims results just released perhaps I could get a handle on it. The problem is that the interim report has a few gaping holes in it, all of which leaves a strong sense of unease. The unease in increased when I note that the recent bailout placing (at a whopping 31% discount) showed up Woodford Investment Management as a major holder. Oh dear, not a good start….

Unfortunately a lot of early stage media and technology companies can look to have huge potential but then fail to really live up to expectations, and I think that has definitely been the case with Gfinity (GFIN).

Even with shares which have exhibited steady share price growth over a period of years there comes a time when you have to consider selling up and moving on, especially in cases where the market valuation looks to be ahead of the financials.

Following the successful floatation of Fishing Republic (FISH) a couple of years back, it was only a matter of time before one of the other large fishing tackle retailers followed the same route, and we’ve just seen Angling Direct (ANG) list on the AIM market.

Shares in Jubilee Platinum (JLP) have taken a bit of a battering in recent months, but I can still see plenty of upside here on any sort of positive reversal in platinum prices, and it is also worth remembering that other platinum group metals have been more robust.

Private investors often seem to have very short memories, and although many have previously been badly burned by putting money into Mosman Oil and Gas (MSMN), some were flocking back into the company again today, sending its share price rocketing.

The People’s Operator (TPOP) was once a favourite with private investors but its share price has taken a tumble since the latter part of 2016. However, I believe that it is still well over-priced at its current level.

Whilst it is true that a lot of the small companies listed on AIM are total junk, there are also some gems amongst them, and I think that Distil (DIS) falls into that category. I first came across this company at the UK Investor Show a couple of years back and it has performed extremely well since I first covered it as a buy here at around 0.8p - the share price is currently nearly 350% higher than it was back then.

Fishing Republic (FISH) is a company that I have been keeping a close eye on ever since it first listed on AIM back in June 2015 and, although I find it hard to see value at the current market cap, it is showing signs that it could grow into it.

Digital Barriers (DGB) has been like so many other AIM companies, in that it has promised a lot but has failed to deliver in the way that investors expected it to, and it now looks like the last chance for the company to live up to expectations.

Hello Share Swappers. We are now living in even scarier times than usual in Shareland. What with Brexit, Big Donald, a possible new cold war, inflation and growing world debt. We are also being frightened witless by the continuing shocking revelations by Uncle Tom and his top team of investigators. If I were running a shaky company, especially one on AIM, I would not be sleeping - ever.

Time Out Group (TMO) “is pleased to announce” that “revenue for the full year is anticipated to be ahead of the board's expectations” and “closing net cash expected to be better than previously anticipated”. So why are the shares barely ahead, at 137p?...

With the L1 funding package now fully drawn, AIM-listed CloudTag has now had an awfully large amount of money, yet we are still to see a product available for it to sell. But thumbing through the RNSs of the last few months shows an incredible cashburn. Where has it all gone?

ShareProphets AIM-China Filthy Forty play Taihua (TAIH) is, in my view, a screaming sell in view of the Red Flags highlighted on this site for months. I doubt very much whether a short position is possible with this stock, but if I were a holder I’d be running for the hills.

Hello Share Tasters. I hold more Trinity Mirror (TNI) shares than I am happy with. It’s the usual story of having invested many, many years ago and then failing to wave bye bye when the story changes for the worst.

Hello Share Twiddlers. There are some shares in our bag, gang, that we know, just know will keep on bumping up our investment. I have brought to your notice recently the Welsh computer engineer IQE (IQE). That is one of them. Another is Legal and General (LGEN). And a third is the Honkers Bonkers bank (HSBA).

Hello Share Puzzlers. Thank goodness the hay fever season is over. I no longer suffer, having moved to the seaside, but the horror of a blocked conk and streaming eyes remains. You may have noticed that allergies seem to be on the rise. At least the number of folk who complain about them is.

ShareProphets AIM-China Filthy Forty play Haike Chemical (HAIK) took the biscuit this morning with an update that its last trading statement was just sheer hogwash. If it was uninvestable before, finding out that an “administrative oversight” led to a 50% overstatement of revenue which has taken almost seven weeks to come to light ought to have investors shying away from their bargepoles even if wearing asbestos gloves.

Robot technology to enhance the mobility of wheelchair users-focused Rex Bionics (RXB) has announced results for its year ended 31st March 2016 and that this “has been a period of broad progress across all areas, and we are pleased to be able to report to shareholders on the achievement of a number of important milestones during the period”. Hmmm…

Hello Share Funsters. I don’t like investing in the motor industry because I think we should all do more walking, I hate air pollution and don’t really like driving. But this should not stop my bringing to your attention companies in this line which I think might make you some money. Though you must always do your own research as I could be - and often am - wrong.

Hello Share Fiends. As ARM (ARM) is likely to be taken over at a juicy premium for shareholders of 42% on the pre-news price, it is only fitting that we look at another company in (very) roughly the same line of business. It is another of my limited stable of technological shares and it's called IQE (IQE).

Shares in AIM-listed Transense Technologies (TRT) are up heavily on the back of a positive-looking trading statement and news of a licence agreement with NYSE giant General Electric (GE). But is the news all it is cracked up to be?

In February, with its shares at over 200p, I noted scepticism on Eagle Eye Solutions (EYE) after a heavily spun trading update - see HERE. We now have another trading update and CEO Phill Blundell emphasising “encouraging progress”, though the shares currently down a further more than 10%, to 164p, in response. Hmmm…

Hello Share Crunchers. Let me send you a letter recommending you research Royal Mail (RMG). I believe, though am not entierly sure as I don't look too closely into her finances, that my wife still holds some shares. So I am not entirely unbiased. Though I sold mr Royal Mail stock some time ago for a tasty profit - and have no plans at present to buy them back. This is not because I believe the share has a limited prospect of rising, but because this family already owns enough Royal Mail shares. Eggs and baskets and all that.

Hello Share Bunnies. You may be tempted top think that shares in magazine companies could be a bit iffy following Trinity Mirror’s (TNI) decision to pull the plug on its latest daily newspaper. But there is a company in this line which is doing rather well. Connect (CNCT) is Britain’s largest magazine and newspaper outfit.

The sportfishing industry is one that I know well, as it has been part of my day job for many years! So it was with great interest that I followed the listing of Fishing Republic (FISH) on the AIM market earlier this month.

Manager of promotional and retail merchandising space in shopping centres and other high footfall venues, SpaceandPeople plc (SAL) has announced results for the first half of 2014 “challenging period for the group, with trading in a number of areas being slower than had been anticipated". ﻿It now expects full-year “profit before tax and non-recurring costs of between £800k and £1.0million and profit before tax but after non-recurring costs, of between £500k and £700k”. Is this discounted in a share price, which has fallen from more than 150p earlier this year to a current sub 50p?

Shares in Goals Soccer Centres (GOAL) currently trade 4% higher today, at 221p, on the back of its results for the first half of the 2014 calendar year and with the company “confident in meeting its financial expectations for the current financial year and delivering long term value to its shareholders”. I update in the following having, at 192.5p, identified potential value in the shares early this year.

For the September Stock-Ping Stockpinger brings you a company operating in a specialised and niche market, a company far unlike companies already featured. However, having said that, this is a company with an emphasis on recycling, slightly akin to last month’s Stock-Ping, TEG Environmental. This month we’ve picked Hydrodec Group PLC (HYR).

Nighthawk Energy (HAWK) has had more than its fair share of ups and downs over the years, but now seems to be heading in the right direction. The AIM-listed oil producer and explorer is based in the US with licences in various parts of Colorado, and the latest update showed that during July it produced over 2,000bopd – although this was down slightly on the previous two months due to maintenance work and testing.

WPP interim results are a classic example of what the strong pound has been doing to British overseas earners. Thank God the minority of two on the Bank of England rate setting Monetary Committee did not persuade the rest to raise interest rates when the Committee met recently. Life is tough enough for companies such as WPP (WPP); most of its top line revenue comes from overseas. In the six months to June 30 this was reported up 2.7%. However, if it were not for the painfully strong Sterling exchange rate, revenue, we are told would, have risen a staggering 11.3%.

I first looked at Group4 Services (GFS) just thirteen months ago. Then the share price had collapsed to 212p after the Olympic Games fiasco and the charging scandal, in which HM Prison service was wrongly charged by G4S for tagging offenders not in custody, when it turned out that they were in prison or not available for such a service. It transpired that the picture of Group 4 operatives turning up for a made to measure electronic leg attachment, had too much fiction about it. Such seeming duplicity was a disastrous public relations and brand image catastrophe with bad vibrations. In July 2013, I found value in the company and the share price of 2012p, which duly obliged by peaking at 274p earlier this month. Last seen, the shares had come down to 261p.

IndigoVision Group (IND), the Edinburgh-headquartered designer and manufacturer of video security systems for large scale and complex security installations, has given an update on trading, including noting that “all major regions have reported year on year revenue growth”. The shares have fallen a couple of percent on this news, so now is the time to examine whether or not there is value to be had here.

Hello Share Pickers: Aggreko (AGK) has been a great share for me. But that was a few years ago. When the share price started to decay after a long healthy bull run, I dumped 'em. There is no loyalty in this black heart. Your best share in the whole wide world should be dropped when things start to go wrong. And they nearly always do, eventually.

Afren (AFR) has taken a massive hit following the suspension of two of its directors, and it could well have further to drop. Last week’s news that the CEO and Chief Operating Officer had received unauthorised payments benefitting them personally has already knocked more than £500 million off the market cap of this oil and gas producer.

Back to the ‘T’s and mother nature for this month’s Stockping however far removed from wireless technology and infection control, the company this month operate on the old adage ‘where there’s muck, there’s money’ and possibly in increasing amounts in years to come. TEG Group PLC (TEG) with its wholly owned subsidiaries, TEG Environmental , TEG Energy and Simpro along with 50% stakes in TEG Biogas (Perth) and TEG Biogas (London) provides state of the art technology for handling organic wastes with abbreviations such as: ‘IVC’ – in vessel composting, ‘ABP’ – animal by product and ‘AD’ anaerobic digestion, gardeners will know, the latter is rather smelly, but this shouldn’t put you off the share!!!